Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: At last November's EuroMed foreign ministerial meeting in The Hague, EuroMed Foreign Ministers launched a review of the first 10 years of the Barcelona process and its future direction. A copy of the UK's national contribution to the Barcelona review has been placed in the Library of the House.
	We believe that the review provides the opportunity to refocus the priorities of the Barcelona process and help ensure it delivers results that have a real positive impact for EU and Mediterranean partner citizens. We want to see the review generate a real debate among all EuroMed partners, and in their civil societies, of how to enhance the partnership. We believe that EuroMed should be guided by the principles of the EU's strategic partnership with the Mediterranean and Middle East and the European neighbourhood policy, but mostly by the desire of Mediterranean partners for the EU's engagement and assistance in meeting the challenges of political, social and economic development.
	Our national contribution proposes a strategic approach to achieving the vision set out in the 1995 Barcelona declaration. We want to focus EuroMed on achieving a limited number of 10-year targets on governance, education and economic reform. Improved education systems and more vigorous open market competitive economies are crucial to economic growth in EuroMed countries. Without these countries we will not be able to take advantage of trade liberalisation and the creation of a Euromed Free Trade Area by 2010. And improved governance based on democratic institutions, and civil society institutions especially for women and free media, will facilitate the achievement of these targets, as will focused and effective development assistance from the EU.
	This is an ambitious agenda, but one whose success is critical to removing the barriers to development in the Middle East and North Africa and to enhancing the relationship between Europe and that region. The review will be negotiated among the 35 EuroMed partners, all of whom will have their own aims and objectives. It will be submitted to Ministers at the EuroMed foreign ministerial meeting in May and will constitute the main input to the EuroMed tenth anniversary event, which the UK will host jointly with Spain in November in Barcelona.

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) new chapter published in July 2002 stated that we planned to enhance and build upon the capabilities of UK special forces. As part of this programme, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) will stand up on April 6 2005. This regiment has been formed to meet a growing worldwide demand for special reconnaissance capability. Consistent with the SDR new chapter, this regiment will provide improved support to expeditionary operations overseas and form part of the defence contribution to the Government's comprehensive strategy to counter international terrorism. The SRR will bring together personnel from existing capabilities and become the means of the further development of the capability. Due to the specialist nature of the unit, it will come under the command of the director special forces and be a part of the uk special forces group.